Automatic closure for vacuum bottles

ABSTRACT

An automatic closure comprises a valve body and a projecting member to be depressed upon the closing operation of a lid or cap of a container. Between the projecting member and the valve body is acting a spring which is provided with a greater spring force than a restoring spring on the valve body. The arrangement is such that when the cap or lid is brought to the extreme of permissible range of closing state, the valve body is brought into contact with a valve seat without effecting compression of the spring. Thus, as far as the cap or lid is closed within the range, the automatic closure can be retained in closed position.

United States Patent [54] AUTOMATIC CLOSURE FOR VACUUM BOTTLES 3 Claims, 4 Drawing Figs.

[52] U.S. Cl 215/74 [51 Int. Cl B65d 97/20 [50] Field of Search 215/74;

Primary Examiner-George T. Hall AttorneyI-Iolman, Glascock, Downing and Seebold ABSTRACT: An automatic closure comprises a valve body and a projecting member to be depressed upon the closing operation of a lid or cap of a container. Between the projecting member and the valve body is acting a spring which is provided with a greater spring force than a restoring spring on the valve body. The arrangement is such that when the cap or lid is brought to the extreme of permissible range of closing state, the valve body is' brought into contact with a valve seat without effecting compression of the spring. Thus, as far as the cap or lid is closed within the range, the automatic closure can be retained in closed position.

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AUTOMATIC CLOSURE FOR VACUUM BOTTLES The present invention relates to an automatic closure to be used in a container having a cap or lid such as a water bottle for keeping the contents hot or cold, vacuum bottle, etc., and more particularly to a bottle closure which is automatically closed by a projecting member to be depressed by the cap or lid when it is closed.

Numerous automatic closures of this type have so far been proposed, but in any of these conventional devices a projecting member for opening and closing the closure and a valve body to be acted on by the projecting member are integrally connected. Accordingly, the opening and closing operations of the closure effected when the cap or lid is opened and closed are directly performed by the projecting member which is directly associated with the cap or lid, the closure thus being strictly dependent on the opening and closing of the covering member. However, with the conventional vacuum bottle and water bottle for keeping the contents hot or cold which is provided with a screw-on cap or hinged lid, the cap or lid is not always perfectly closed, and when the bottle is knocked down, dropped or subjected to vibration, shock or the like, the bottle cover becomes loose, with the result that the lid is not always closed to the same extent. In case an automatic closure such as above-mentioned is used, the difference in closing state of the automatic closure results in the difference in closing state of the lid or cap, so that unless the covering member is fully closed, perfect sealing operation of the automatic closure is no longer achieved. The closure, therefore, can not satisfactorily perform the function as an automatic closure.

An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic closure which, as far as the closing of the cap or lid is effected within a predetermined permissible range of closing state, can be perfectly closed even when the closing state of the lid or cap is imperfect and which can be retained in perfect closing position free of damage when the cap or lid is brought from the above-mentioned imperfect closing state to full closing position, the automatic closure thus being capable of performing its function independently of the difference in closing state of the covering member.

The present invention is characterized in that between a valve body and a projecting member to be depressed upon closure of the cap or lid there is disposed a spring acting thereon which is greater in spring force than the restoring spring on the valve body, the projecting member being adapted, at the time the valve body is brought into contact with the valve seat, to be associated with the lid or cap positioned at the extreme of permissible range of closing state allowed only by means of the spring acting between the projecting member and the covering member.

In accordance with the present invention, so far as the cap or lid is closed within predetermined permissible range though in imperfect state, the automatic closure can be retained in closed position, so that the automatic closure continues to perform the scaling function even when the covering member is not fully closed or even when the container, with the covering member perfectly closed, is tumbled down or dropped or subjected to vibration, shock, etc., the closure therefore exhibiting outstanding advantages that the contents can be retained in cold or hot state or prevented from leakage if the container should be tumbled down. Further in case the cap or lid is in perfectly closed position, excess descent of the projecting member is absorbed by compression of the spring acting between the projecting member and the valve body. As a result the damage to the automatic closure can be precluded and through the compression of spring at this time, a certain spring force acts on the valve body to improve the sealing engagement with the valve seat.

The above-described advantages and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. I is a front view partly in section showing an embodiment to be used in a water bottle for keeping the contents hot or cold, as it is mounted on the container;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the embodiment in FIG. 1 as it is associated with the cap of the container;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of an embodiment to be used in a vacuum bottle as it is mounted on the container; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the embodiment in FIG. 3 as it is associated with the cap of the container.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a container B comprises an inner container B, and an outer body B A hottle closure A is attached to the rim 1 at the neck of the outer body B by means of a screw thread 2. The bottle closure A is provided with a spout 3 opened sidewise outwardly and a valve aperture 4 to be opened into the inner container B Along the periphery of valve aperture 4 is disposed an upwardly directed annular valve seat 5 made of a packing material, with the upper face downwardly inclined toward radially inner direction. By means of a restoring spring 8, a valve body 6 is held against an intermediate bottom 7 formed within the bottle closure A, with an annular protrusion 60 provided at the lower end in facing relationship with the annular valve seat 5, the protrusion being formed in V-shape ih section. The intermediate bottom 7 is in truncated conical form in the center and is held by means of a cover 9 against a suitable number of projections 20 which are formed vertically on the inner periphery of the closure A, the cover 9 being fitted to the closure A in resilient engagement therewith. Through the central truncated conical portion of the valve body 6 passes an upwardly projecting portion 617 of the valve body 6. with a cap 6c fixed to the projecting portion 6!). Between the flange portion 6d of cap 60 and the bottom of the truncated conical portion is disposed the restoring spring 8 acting thereon. The lower end of a projecting member 10 is positioned within the projecting portion 61) of the valve body 6 and between the flange portion 10a thereof and the valve body 6 is acting another spring 11. The spring 11 is provided with a greater spring force than the restoring spring 8. The flange 10a is engaged with the cap 21 to prevent the projecting member 10 from being moved out of the projecting portion 6b. The upper end of the projecting member 10 protrudes upwardly from the center portion of cover 9 of the closure A so as to face the rear face of the cap C. The arrangement is so made that, when the cap C of the container is brought to such a position that closing is effected at the extreme of permissible range, the annular protrusion 6a V-shaped in section at the lower end of the valve body 6 may be brought into contact with the annular valve seat 5. In case a cup 12 is to be housed within the cap C, the space therefor is formed. While the cap C is released from the projecting member 10, the valve body 6 and projecting member 10 are retained at an elevated position by means of the respective springs 8 and II, the valve body 6 being out of contact with the valve seat 5 to leave the valve aperture open as shown in FIG. 1. Accordingly, when the container B in this position is inclined, the contents can be poured through the valve aperture 4 out of the spout 3. By means of a screw thread 13, the cap C is adapted to be mounted on the outer body B When the cap C is progressively screwed on the outer body 3,, the inner face of the cap C, or the inner face of the cup I2 in FIG. 2, comes into contact with the projecting member 10 and thereafter depresses the valve body 6 by means of the projecting member 10 and spring 11 against the restoring spring 8. Upon reaching the extreme of permissible range of closing state allowed shown in solid line in F IG. 2, the cap brings the annular protrusion 6a V-shaped in section at the lower end of valve body 6 into contact with the annular valve seat 5 to close the valve aperture. Therefore, even if the container B in this position is inclined, the liquid contents can not be poured out, thus permitting the container to retain the liquid contents in hot or cold state. When the cap C is further brought to a position indicated in two-dot chain line from the position indicated in solid line in FIG. 2, the projecting member 10 is thereby pressed down. However, this movement is absorbed by the spring 11 and does not interfere with the valve 6. As a result, the closure is protected against damage and the spring force due to the compression of the spring I l at this time forcibly causes the valve body 6 to press against the valve seat 5 made of packing material, thus bringing the both members into more snug-fit sealing contact with each other.

On the other hand, if the container which is perfectly sealed as indicated in the two-dot chain line should be tumbled down or dropped or otherwise subjected to vibration or shock and the cap C should thereby become loose, the cap C, as far as it is retained in the position indicated in the solid line in FIG. 2, does not allow the valve body 6 to move out of contact with the valve seat to open the valve aperture. In spite of the difference in the closing state of the cap, the automatic closure is retained in sealing position to perform its function so long as the cap is closed within a predetermined permissible range. (This range can be set as desired.) When the projecting member 10 is released by loosening or removing the cap C, the projecting member 10 and valve body 6 can be returned to the position shown in FIG. 1 in a moment by means of the springs 11 and 8. Indicated at 14 in the drawings is a packing for the rim of the neck of the outer body B2; and at 15, a heat insulator.

In the embodiment so shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the container B is likewise comprises an inner container B and an outer body B the inner container B, being a bottle of double wall enclosing vacuum.- The lid C is of a hinged type with an operating portion 22 pivotally supported as at 17 on a handle 16. On the outer body B is provided a lip portion 18. The bottie closure A is fitted to the neck 19 of the inner container B, and a packing 14 is provided around the outer surface of the fitting portion of bottle closure A to effect snug-fit contact b :tween the closure and the neck 19 of inner container 8,. The valve seat 5 in this embodiment is formed with an annular conical surface at an intermediate portion of the closure A. In facing relationship with the seat is an annular contacting surface 6e formed in the valve body 6. The valve aperture 4 is packing disposed between the inner container B, and outer body 8;.

I claim:

1. An automatic closure comprising a spring acting between a valve body and a projecting member adapted to be.

depressed by the closing operation ofa covering member, said spring having a greater spring force than a restoring spring of said valve body.

2. An automatic closure comprising a spring acting between a valve body and a projecting member adapted to be depressed by the closing operation ofa covering member. said spring having a greater spring force than a restoring spring of said valve body, so that when said covering member is brought to the extreme of permissible range of closing state said valve body may be brought into contact with a valve seat without effecting compression of said spring acting between said valve.

body and projecting member.

3. An automatic closure comprising a projecting member adapted to be depressed by the closing operation ofa covering member and movably attached to a portion of a valve body, a spring acting between said projecting member and valve body and provided with a greater spring force than a restoring spring of said valve body, a valve seat ofsaid closure formed of a packing material, and an annular protrusion formed in V shape in section and provided at the lower end of said valve" body in facing relationship with said valve seat. 

1. An automatic closure comprising a spring acting between a valve body and a projecting member adapted to be depressed by the closing operation of a covering member, said spring having a greater spring force than a restoring spring of said valve body.
 2. An automatic closure comprising a spring acting between a valve body and a projecting member adapted to be depressed by the closing operation of a covering member, said spring having a greater spring force than a restoring spring of said valve body, so that when said covering member is brought to the extreme of permissible range of closing state said valve body may be brought into contact with a valve seat without effecting compression of said spring acting between said valve body and projecting member.
 3. An automatic closure comprising a projecting member adapted to be depressed by the closing operation of a covering member and movably attached to a portion of a valve body, a spring acting between said projecting member and valve body and provided with a greater spring force than a restoring spring of said valve body, a valve seat of said closure formed of a packing material, and an annular protrusion formed in V-shape in section and provided at the lower end of said valve body in facing relationship with said valve seat. 